Belt buckle tongue



y 1959 R. STERNSCHUSS BELT BUCKLE TIONGUE' Filed Nov.

m ME TO MS VN m :QTTURNE'Y nited States Patent BELT BUCKLE TONGUE Richard Sternschuss, Bronx, N.Y.

Application November 9, 1956, Serial No. 621,378

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-163) The present invention relates to buckles for belts and the like and, more particularly, to new and useful improvements in a belt buckle having no movable parts to get .out of order or to become loose.

.In the ordinary belt buckle an elongated pivoted tongue is provided for engaging holes in the fixed and free ends .of the belt to be secured by the buckle. Such movable tongue is likely to get out of order in use and often becomes loose accidentally thereby loosening the belt. Furthermore, such tongue normally extends across the opening in the buckle thereby interfering with the insertion of the free end of the belt through the buckle. Also, constant contact of the pivoted tongue with the outer surface of the end bar of the frame tends to mar the appearance of such surface. These disadvantages are inherent in buckles with pivoted tongues.

Attempts have been made to avoid these disadvantages by providing cast buckles with an integral belt-engaging stud in place of the pivoted tongue, but prior to the present invention, no satisfactory way has been found to provide buckles, made of pressed or stamped sheet material, with strong enough studs to resist the tension exerted thereon by the belt. This is due to the fact that buckles made of sheet material are very light in construction. The sheet material used is very thin, of the order of ten thousandths of an inch, and, therefore, a stud integral with such a buckle would be very thin and weak.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a belt buckle without any movable parts such as a pivoted tongue so as to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages.

Another important object of the invention is to pro- I vide a belt buckle with a fixed stud in place of the movable tongue of the ordinary belt buckle.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a buckle made of thin sheet material and provided, in combination therewith, with a separate stud secured to a stationary part of said buckle, said stud being made of a material which is much stronger than the material constituting the buckle proper.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a stud of the character described provided with a fixture for securing said stud to various types and shapes of buckles.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a stud with a securing fixture therefor which is relatively simple and durable and inexpensive to manufacture.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a belt and buckle provided with a stud according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the belt 2,884,675 ."r atented May 5, 1959 ice and buckle'showing one end of the belt detachedfrom the stud but still inserted withinthe buckle.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the buckle and the belt, only one end of'the belt being shown inserted through the buckle and attached to the stud.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section along line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of thebuckle.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of another type of buckle provided with a stud according to the present invention.

Fig-7 is a perspective view of the stud before assembly on the buckle.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line '88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 isa bottom plan view .of the stud shown in Fig. 7.

Referringnow .more'particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, reference numeral 1 indicates a ladys belt provided with-a series of spaced holes 2 at its outer end portion 3 and a series of spaced holes 4 at its inner end portion 5. The end portions 3 and 5 of the belt 1 are adapted to be threaded through a buckle 6 and attached thereto by passing a stud 7 through registering holes 2 and 4 of the belt, as shown in Fig. 1.

In a ladys belt, the buckle 6 is usually made of two interengaging oppositely facing shells of very thin sheet metal. As shown in Fig. 4, an inner sheet metal shell 8 of channel-shaped cross section engages a complemental outer sheet metal shell 9 of channel-shaped cross section, in such a manner as to clamp and retain the ends 10 of an outer layer 11, which may be plastic, leather, textile material or the like, and which surrounds the outer shell 9.

The buckle 6 is of conventional form constituting a rectangular frame including side bars 5' and end bars 12 and a middle stationary bridge portion or crossbar 13. The stud 7, according to the present invention, is fixed to the center part of the bridge portion 13, but could also be secured to the end bar 12 of a buckle 6', as shown in Fig. 6, which has no center bridge portion.

The stud 7, according to the present invention, before assembly on the buckle frame, comprises an elongated shank 14 having an enlargement 15 at one end thereof and having its other end secured to an attaching yokeshaped or channel-shaped member 16, such as by welding, riveting, or the like.

The enlargement 15 is preferably in the form of a ball member, but could have any other desired shape such as an ovoidal shape, or the like. The shank 14 is preferably circular in cross section, but could also have other cross-sectional shapes.

The channel-shaped member 16 is made of sheet metal which is much thicker than the sheet metal constituting the shell members 8 and 9 of the buckle 6. The channelshaped member 16 comprises a three-walled body including a connecting top wall 17 and side walls 18, 18 as viewed in Fig. 6. The elongated shank 14 is secured to the middle of the top wall 17, is directed away from the side walls 18, and is perpendicular to the plane of the top wall 17. Preferably, the top wall 17 is provided with a small opening through which passes a restricted end portion of the elongated shank 14 which is riveted inside the channel-shaped member, as shown at 19 in Figs. 4 and 9. Thus the elongated shank 14 provides a shoulder overlying the top face of the top Wall 17. The member 16, which constitutes the securing fixture for the stud 7, is inserted over the cross bar 13 of the buckle 6, or over the end bar 12' of the buckle 6', and the marginal portions of the side walls 18 are bent inwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, to provide inwardly extending lips 20 which engage the inner shell 8 so as to tightly secure the stud on the buckle.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the stud 7, consisting of the elongated shank 14, the enlargement 15 and the yoke or channel-shaped member 16, constitutes a separate stud which can be fixed to several types of buckles of light construction which would otherwise be unpractical to provide with studs.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

In a buckle for a belt, a rectangular-shaped frame including side and end bars and a stationary crossbar parallel to said end bars at the middle of the frame, a yoke member having side walls and a connecting top wall, said side walls encircling the crossbar with free ends of the side walls bent inwardly engaging the underside of the crossbar, the top wall of said yoke member overlying the upper side of the crossbar and having a central aperture, and a stud mounted on the top wall of said yoke member, said stud having an elongated shank with a free end formed as a ball-shaped enlargement, said stud having a base integrally formed with the shank and extending through the aperture in said top Wall and anchored thereunder on the upper side of the crossbar for engaging a double thickness of a belt on said shank under said enlargement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,214,312 Kaeding Ian. 30, 1917 1,566,104 Knothe Dec. 15, 1925 1,644,720 Goldstein Oct. 11, 1927 1,675,789 Carr July 3, 1928 1,712,472 Campbell May 7, 1929 2,093,687 Kluger Sept. 21, 1937 2,112,532 Jones Mar. 29, 1938 2,529,906 Biery Nov. 14, 1950 2,615,223 Bedford Oct. 28, 1952 2,634,476 Mishkin Apr. 14, 1953 2,667,667 Gauz Feb. 2, 1954 2,684,513 Morse July 27, 1954 2,798,389 Sacrider July 9, 1957 

